Rangers went in to this game looking for the first home win of the new millennium and made just one change to the team that beat Manchester City.

Gavin Peacock's injury kept him out so top scorer Stuart Wardley returned to the side. The first half was probably the most forgettable half of football I have ever seen. Both sides were truly awful and both had chances to go ahead. Grimsby made some good breaks and found themselves four on two on one occasion but failed to make that advantage pay with a tame effort at the Rangers goal.

Once again Stuart Wardley was Rangers biggest goal threat and he went close twice but the best chance of the half fell to Ward. A corner was whipped in and Ward found himself with a free header but headed well over the bar. The Rangers midfield were very wasteful with their passing whilst the front two struggled to hold the ball up despite Kiwmoya and Beck showing some nice touches.

The main battle was off the pitch where the Q block vented their frustrations at the Loft with chants such as "You only sing when its Fulham" and the usual "Loft Girls give us a song". As much as I understand the frustrations at the lack of atmosphere, slagging off our own supporters is a bit pathetic as is the usual "Stand up if you love rangers". I wouldn't have paid Ł14 to sit throughout this rubbish if I didn't love Rangers but every week if I don't stand up I get someone shouting abuse at me. I'm not slaging off the Q block to much here, the lads and lasses in there do sing there hearts out every week but having a go at our own supporters does seem a little childish. Having said that I did find the cries of "schhh" every time any one tried to sing funny.

So as the half time whistle blew it was a relief to many and it was hoped a real football team would emerge after the break. So the second half began a bit better than the first. Rangers attacked the loft with a bit more purpose and went close to an opening goal.

Richard Langley and Paul Murray were improving whilst Mikkel Beck was impressing up front winning almost every ball in the air. Darlington began to get forward more down the right and causing problems and Rangers almost grabbed two quick goals. Chris Kiwomya found himself clean through with just the keeper to beat but his shot was saved and just minutes later a great cross flew in for Kiwomya but he was just inches away from connecting with the ball and the danger was cleared.

Wardley then went close with a header. Rangers seemed to have done everything in this move with Wardley beating the keeper with a powerful header but the Grimsby defender threw himself at the ball and made a spectacular headed clearance. A succession of corners followed, one of them from the left saw Langleys cross cause a goal mouth scramble. Beck, Wardley and Kiwomya were all involved but is was a Grimsby defender who fired the ball against his own crossbar.

This was much better stuff from Rangers and the crowd sang "We're gonna score in a minute". As is typical with football Rangers didn't score in a minute but went back into their shell and it was Grimsby who should have taken the lead. A ball into the box seemed to hit Plummers hand and a penalty was given.

The Rangers players protested and an air of inevitability rang around Loftus Road. Harper never saves penalties, and Grimsby scored two penalties to beat us earlier this season. Well we were all wrong as Lee Harper stood tall and pushed the penalty over the bar to send the Rangers faithful into wild celebrations. The corner was well claimed by Harper and the crowd and game had come back to life.

Kevin Gallen then came on for Langley and played just behind the front two. Rangers then had a penalty appeal turned down when Mikkel Beck appeared to be chopped down in the box. The dramatic fall by Beck probably made the refs mind up and Beck almost found himself booked for diving. To Becks credit, he did make the dive look better than Rob Steiners but if he had just gone down normally he might have got the penalty.

Beck did continue to cause problems and he combined well with Kiwomya after 77 mins and Kiwomya was brought down for a penalty to Rangers. Beck stepped up and confidently struck the ball home just he had done at Maine Road last week.

Rangers played the rest of the game out without any trouble with the front three working well together. Matthew Rose appeared for the last few minutes and the ref blew for the final whistle after just one minutes added time. That win moves Rangers up to ninth and the playoff dream moves a step closer.

Man of the Match: Lee Harper

13. Lee Harper : Without his we would have lost today, a good penalty save and is improving with every game. 7/10

22. Jermaine Darlington : Not his best game today, he did some good things going forward but was not as dangerous as he can be. 6/10

3. Ian Baraclough : Average game from Bara, looks better in the back three but coped with every attack well. 7/10

17. Chris Plummer : A good solid performance by Chris. Made hardly any errors and would be worth a new contract when his current one expires in the summer. 7/10

32. Darren Ward : Sign him up!! Again impressive against a very poor attack it has to be said. 7/10

5. Karl Ready: Did ok, will get stick for the number of fouls he gives away and his unnecessary mistakes but will also be praised for winning headers and helping keep a clean sheet. 6/10

27. Stuart Wardley : A better performance from Wardley, he was more involved today than he has been. 7/10

7. Paul Murray : Worked hard in midfield but gave the ball away to often but he did improve as the game wore on and was given a pat on the back by Francis when taken off. 7/10

21. Richard Langley : Not his day today, never really got into t he game and no surprise when he was taken off. I hope spurs were watching today and put off! 6/10

36. Mikkel Beck : Won plenty in the air with the timing of his jumps which was impressive. Showed some nice touches again. 7/10

11. Chris Kiwomya : Worked hard and was dangerous especially in the second half when he could have scored a hat trick.

10. Kevin Gallen : It took him a while to get into the game but he did well in the last 20 minutes and proved he does have a future at the club. 7/10